Clean Dirt

Snow at last

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Display of Machismo) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 04:21:00 +0000

We awoke this morning to a silent and beautiful tableau, light flakes falling softly on crunchy leaves.
Just last week autumn had arrived. Now winter has come, though not in force. The snowfall was mostly gone by early afternoon. TMC is in the midst of finals and I have mostly resigned myself to being unemployed through the holidays. On Wednesday I attended a talk by Paul Dietrich of financial advising fame and his take on the future was none too rosy. Nobody is hiring save for very temporary, throwaway gigs, and it looks like this winter is going to be a terrible one for our economy. Tika the Dog continues to relax and integrate herself into our home. The possibility of building a greenhouse to grow our own produce stays in the back of my mind. Everyone I talk to is nervous and worried about the future. Mr. Obama has his work cut out for him.

The Warming

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Display of Machismo) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 05:32:00 +0000

Well, we threw a party and people came. So technically we have warmed our house. TransMooCow invited a number of her grad school colleagues, we provided meat and booze and Ferris wheel, and when it darkened we lit up the rocket stove for some dangerously good times. Even Tika the Dog behaved herself when another canine showed up. TMC's student advisor brought her two year old Maya, and though I did not witness it she and Tika apparently had a "moment". I'm glad the dog is good with kids. People enjoyed the Wheel, the food and the beer, and I hope the company as well. I met a young gent who moved here to be with his beau and had the good fortune to land a job after two months of searching. This gives me hope.

Watched the Incredible Hulk (Ed Norton) tonight, thoroughly enjoyed it. Much better and more absorbing than the Ang Lee effort.

Cold facts on Colfax

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Display of Machismo) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 03:57:00 +0000

How droll.
Checked out the Denver local hipster drag tonight, Colfax Avenue. Locals claim it to be the longest commercial street in the U.S., eerily reminiscent of Toronto's claim of Yonge Street as the longest street in the world. Rode from downtown to the 10000 East block of Colfax, then came back to the 3000's and grabbed a PBR at the Atomic Cowboy Bar. Decent bar, cheap prices, fairly standard bar scene. Listened in on a couple of dudes debating the history of the Internet (proletarian ideal corrupted by capitalism vs. military project profitably integrated into the marketplace) and a guy bragging about his credit score to another guy.
Notable Flavor: guy with two bike wheels singing to me "to know you is to love you", observing a young prostitute squatting and urinating in an alley and laughing shrilly at her companions.

No callback? Fine, I'll put up my Ferris wheel.

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Display of Machismo) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:56:00 +0000

Oh, how I do enjoy looking for work. The routine questioning, the not-really-legal inquiries, the dismissive responses, the bored power-tripping, the patently insincere expressions of interest. I know it's just the crap one must wade through to get to the good job offers so I endeavor to keep a positive outlook on the whole process. Whatever. I have a human-powered Ferris wheel.

While waiting for callbacks I decided to be productive and build a doghouse and erect the Chesney wheel. The doghouse came out great. Lots of room for Tika inside and weatherproof. It's insulated with styrofoam sheets in the walls and even with the open door it warms up quickly once occupied; I know this because it's big enough to sit in. I used a different technique for this project after considering the challenges I encountered when building the waterbed. Instead of mitered corners and the struggle to precisely fit box sides I opted for a semi-pre-fab approach. Four wall panels plus a floor panel would make the box, with a hinged roof. The panels were a sandwich of "soffit" type plywood on the exterior (coated in plastic and woodgrain textured), 2x2s and styrofoam in the middle, and 3/8" chip-ply sheets on the interior (non-toxic in case the dog chews on it). Once made, the panels were easily and quickly nailed together to form the box. I decided to make the interior dimensions 30"X48", allowing the use of factory edges on the bottom panel. All together I used three sheets of soffit-plywood, two sheets of chip-ply, about 64 feet of 2x2 pine, 12 feet of 2x3 pine, 24 feet of 1x4 PVC faux-wood, six feet of 2x4 pine (for skids), four galvanized steel handles, 24 feet of flashing, two lbs. of nails, 2.5 tubes of caulk, two tubes of "Shoe Goo" and three hinges. It took about 12 hours to put together and another day for the sealants to dry. If I built another one with this design I would substitute 2x4 for the 2x3, use PVC 2x4s for skids, and get a nail gun.

On Monday this week I put up the Wheel. Upon inspection I found some minor rust and slight bends in a couple of the members but nothing serious so it went up without any modifications or repairs. It took a couple of tries to recall the proper way to set up the tripods and the 1/4 bolt hardware was rather dirty but otherwise it went up without issue. I loaded concrete blocks on one of the chairs as a counterweight and now it can be used by one person. I installed only two chairs to save time and make life easier for me when we have people over; managing and balancing six Wheel riders is more stress than I want at a party. Interestingly, the Wheel seems much quieter than the last time I used it, barely any creaks or metal noises. Tika the Dog does not seem perturbed in the least by me riding it.

Sneak a post

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Display of Machismo) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:37:00 +0000

Heh, a late night sneaky post to a blog I've neglected for over a year.... no one will ever know. What could possibly go wrong? Aside from it being on the Internet and thereby exposed to at least eleven people? My genius is unfathomable.

Now I'm graduated, married and relocated to sunny Denver, the Mile High Metropolis. And as long as I'm making references to Superman, the house has become my fortress of semi-solitude save for the presence of Tika the Dog and every now and then my wife. Tika has natural charisma, the type that has allowed her to make as many friends in two weeks here as we have in two months. Except for the golden retriever next door. Bad blood boils between those two.

Since I'm unemployed, er, "newly graduated", I have kept the gibbering madness of boredom at bay by inventing new short-term projects. The first few weeks were devoted to making the house work. This involved trimming back the overgrowth in the yards, fixing the electrical system, climbing trees and chopping off huge dead branches, cleaning and mending the rain gutters, re-wiring the cable and CAT5 networks, painting, replacing a fence gate, and generally undoing years of half-assed "improvements" and neglect to this rental property.

Next came Phase II: Boredom Boogaloo. I decided to build a waterbed. Thanks to Toronto, the old waterbed frame had to be put down due to a wee infestation of bedbugs. By the way, bedbugs are very resilient creatures. These Canadian ones survived a 3,000 mile trip in the back of a U-Haul and six months in a storage unit to colonize our apartment in San Fran. Anyway, the new frame is a slightly improved version of the old one. I made the whole thing sturdier and less creaky by fully dadoing the sides to fit the base pieces, which were also improved to be lighter and less crappy. The headboard became an enclosure for storage of pillows, pajamas, sex toys and the like. It came out pretty well I think.

But a mere waterbed frame was not enough. I wanted more. More danger, more excitement, more power. So I designed and built a high output wood furnace called a "pocket rocket", originally invented by a genius hippy named Ianto Evans (buy his book). It completely combusts the wood fuel if used correctly leading to extremely clean emissions and very high heat output. This thing glows cherry red when fully loaded with good dry wood. A lot of potential for home heating with it, perhaps even a wood-fired hot tub is in our future. I highly recommend them if you have a need for a wood stove. I made a paste of clay and perlite to line the inside bottom of the stove, both to protect it from oxidation and reflect heat back up into the barrel, and it worked like a charm after the first burn had hardened it. The picture makes it look so cute and harmless but do not be fooled; even without any exposed flame this stove will set your clothes on fire if you stand too close, too long.

I'd post pictures of Tika but my wife beat me to it. Take a look at her Flickr site for the cuteness.

G'night, Intarwebs.

Surprise! You've got melancholy....

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Display of Machismo) — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 07:45:00 +0000

Yeah, about that. It kind of washed over me today unforeseen, unexpected. School is back in full swing. I have three different student workgroups with four classes and a research project with Dr. Steve Huxley. Last night Elise and I had tasty authentic Tex-Mex food courtesy of Tony and Michael. Tonight we saw "Superbad" the movie.

My grandpa died a few weeks ago and I guess I'm still grieving. My Dad and Patty are essentially isolated in Preston, Idaho, a really small town in the middle of nowhere and his dear old cat died just two weeks after Papa. His side of the family are a bunch of jerks, to make a major understatement. I went to the funeral and spoke kindly of the dead because it felt like the mature, upright thing to do. I had every right to say a lot of less-than-kindly things, but I took the high road. whoopee.

My friends are getting a divorce. I was the best man at their wedding. They were married for only a short few years and seemed to have parted ways relatively amicably, with no kids, few shared assets and mutual economic independence.

I'll be 33 years old in just two weeks. A third of a century. I got my health, some money, an OK overpriced apartment and a loving girlfriend. No career though. I miss my cat Marble.

I have been feeling the sensation of time flowing ever faster. People move around, there is so very little permanence in the things to which I attach. There does not seem to be much to do about it. Learning to sail a catamaran two weeks ago was indescribably apropos; when everything was just flowing along I did just fine and didn't miss the land. Nothing solid, just breeze and waves and navigating back and forth across a high mountain lake in the sun. Avoiding the waterskiers, watching for wind-sign on the water. I could have done that forever.

Dogsitting

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Display of Machismo) — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 18:08:00 +0000

Naya the Dog has shared our house for the last four days while her human "JW" has been taking the California bar exam. Today he will come to collect her and I will miss her company. Naya is not the first dog with which I have lived but definitely the first for which I have been responsible. Having a dog makes me wish I lived in the country and had a porch she could sleep under. You know, with eight other dogs, and when it got too crowded she could move out to the rusty car on cinder blocks in the front yard. And then I would yell at someone to get off the ding-dang roof already. Jeez.

There was a skunk in the overgrowth behind our apartment; I hesitate to call it a "yard". Naya caught a whiff and proceeded to stare at it and whine from the window for the duration of its stay. The skunk would occasionally regard us like we were the least threatening creatures it had seen and nonchalantly return to forage through the blackberry vines, Queen Anne's lace and detritus. I shot some video with classic dog-whining and skunk-foraging action, act now and I will rush you a copy for the low low price of "free".

The Coldest Winter

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Display of Machismo) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:32:00 +0000

Thank you Samuel Clemens, you had it just right. Another delightful summer day of fog and wind in San Francisco.

So, done with school for a few weeks and I suddenly remember that I had this "blog" thing that I was into back when I had moments of spare time and creative energy. About three months ago Elise and I moved to a nice little apartment with a great view of the city. A whole bunch of friends moved out of SF and I felt rather abandoned. I finished spring semester with a 3.6 GPA then jumped right into summer school at USF. Turns out I took the two hardest classes in the MBA program simultaneously AND in the accelerated summer session, which my classmates unanimously regarded as "insane". In hindsight they were correct, but as I was blissfully ignorant of the insanity of my workload I forged ahead and did quite well, thank you very much, finishing with a 3.53 GPA.
I had my Pelican case bags from the old BMW lying around, and I wanted to see if it was worth fitting them to the new bike. After looking at the expensive and crappy-looking after-market offerings for this bike, I designed luggage mounts for the V-Strom and spent a week fabricating and installing them. They work, are mechanically solid, look good and best of all will be fairly cheap to replace if they are damaged (new Pelican case: $100 vs. new Givi case: $350). I may be on to something with these. Just need to do the same for a top case...

Post Spring Break Break

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Display of Machismo) — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 05:03:00 +0000

It's been busy. B-school has gradually encroached upon my time until now it seems like spending an hour writing a blog post is a rare indulgence.

Tomorrow I have a midterm in Data Analysis. So far my grades have been excellent, which is a new experience for me. Spring break was a welcome relief and I was able to catch up on all the other activities neglected in favor of studying and late night drinking. Like early night drinking, and looking at apartments.

I also bought a motorcycle, a brand spanking new 2006 Suzuki DL1000 "V-Strom" in a deep metallic red. It has more fairing than any of my previous bikes and rides higher, and is a "sport-enduro-tourer" which means it is kind of OK at everything. Logged about 400 miles so far and like what I see. It's pretty comfortable for multi-hour rides but is also nimble in the turns and has plenty o' power for two-up riding. Pics to come soon.

Next on the docket is searching for summer employment.

Mas y menos

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Display of Machismo) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 06:21:00 +0000

The Mas: Lovely hiking around Mt. Tamalpais with Transmoocow and Woof (today). An unbelievably cool surprise engagement party last weekend (everyone I know but especially Transmoocow, Nancy and See-Yin. Thank you so much). Awesome West coast weather i.e. middle of February, 75 degrees F (the last few days). Jameson whiskey, even though my current fave is Clontarf (now). Making friends in grad school (ongoing).

The Menos: Network TV, particularly Lost and Heroes. I mean, would it kill them to actually patch the plot holes? Sure it may sound a bit whiney but I love comics and high-concept fantasy and Lost and Heroes do their very utmost to make them as STUPID AS POSSIBLE. There is no reason that sci-fi needs to be dumb, as Heinlein, Farmer, Bradbury, Le Guin, Card and so many others have proven. And I have ultimate respect for pioneers like Stan Lee who make their artistic vision and passion a reality. But let's be honest and admit that Stan Lee imitators like the aforementioned shows are not homages to his spirit; they are committee-led facsimilies of the poorest quality. People sense stupidity, and even if you're a network bigwig computing "present-value" returns on your latest schlock you can probably do the math and realize that making a hit show that lasts more than a few seasons would be a golden ticket. Why does sci-fi have to be synonymous with awful writing when produced for general audiences? I admit that I doubt the sensibilities of "mainstream America" particularly after electing Bush. Twice. But Jesus F. Christ, I know the writers who make these shows are intelligent, and someone who holds power at the networks should in theory have some brains, so it boggles my mind that they could therefore be so damn cynical that they would produce such crap as I witnessed tonight. I guess they know that people will still watch, and their advertisers will still get "impressions" and stupid people are more susceptible to spending money on advertised goods/services so they keep dumbing their product down to maximize their revenue.

On another note, business school is going great.

Pt. Reyes 'n Fog

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Display of Machismo) — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 19:53:00 +0000

Over the weekend Transmoocow, Woof and I drove up to Pt. Reyes National Seashore to do a little hiking. We found a fairly short but interesting hike to the top of Mt. Wittenberg, promising "panoramic views". We found the top easily due to the USGS marker embedded in a stone, but the views had been obtructed by overgrowth of young conifers. Judging from their size and counting rings on a fallen one, they were probably planted back in the 1960s as an earnest but poorly planned re-forestation effort. The trees were so densely packed together there was no undergrowth and they presented a fire hazard from uncleared deadfall. The hike was great nonetheless and I got to really break in my new Merrell hiking boots (yay Transmoocow's folks!).

We followed up by eating in a restaurant at Pt. Reyes Station, the local tourist trap town. We belatedly noticed the high frequency of old people in the place and it took us 2 hours to get sandwiches and oyster stew. Next time we will plan better and hit the oyster shops along Hwy. 1 which looked like perfect places to picnic with a large group of friends and plenty of beer.
While studying yesterday I looked outside to see fog flowing by so thickly it resembled smoke, enough so I went out to see if my neighbors had decided to "cash out" their home insurance policy. No such luck.

One week down, Happy New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Display of Machismo) — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 21:01:00 +0000

One week of b-school down, and it's not too bad. The classes are small and the professors seem relaxed and professional. My fellow students are friendlier than I expected, a much warmer attitude than the Canuckistanis. I ended up testing out of intro accounting by the grace of the MBA school manager and a last minute cram session, so I will start with financial accounting today and more or less resume where I left off in Toronto. I currently have a very "grad-school" schedule with 7 hours of class on Tuesdays, 3 on Wednesdays, and 2 on Fridays. I can now begin to apply for part-time jobs, yyaaaaaayyyyyy........

One possibly fortuitous event occurred on Friday, when I walked into class 25 minutes early and witnessed the school A/V/IT people troubleshooting a rack of electronics. Since I am Mr. Smarty, I immediately butted in and inquired as to what exactly they were doing with the equipment my former company BBI may or may not have installed. We discussed A/V geek stuff for a bit and they suggested that I send in a resume.

Why it's a Happy New Year: 2007 is a really mixed bag so far. One mysterious death in the family, one dear family pet euthanized, one motorcycle (symbol of freedom) relinquished and one tiny, cold apartment. On the other hand, new fun school and program, healthiness and daily yoga, possible job, new gas stove (replaced the rusty, leaking antique from Before My Time). I don't hold much with "deaths happening in threes" thing but the thought keeps popping up intermittently. Maybe I should look at it as "new stoves happen in threes". Yeah.

Fingernail

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Display of Machismo) — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 22:53:00 +0000

I passed not only the writing test but the math and statistics tests as well. Thus I am judged worthy to continue my edumacation in the art of bizness. I purchased school books today and wandered around the campus until I located the offices of my favorite college radio station KUSF 90.3. They were out to lunch.
I spent yesterday working on my jalopy of a bicycle. I think by virtue of its age and continuing useability it has earned both a gender and a name by this point, so I hereby christen "her" the "Grey Wind" (apologies to Anne C. for blatantly ripping off the name of her old car). I started to put new brake pads on the Grey Wind when I noticed that the front wheel rim was no longer straight, and after a few attempts at truing it with the spoke tool I recognized that the time had come to completely redo the spokes. Taking the wheel apart, inspecting the rim, spokes and threads and carefully reassembling it took the better part of the afternoon. The front rim has a significant dent in it that can't be removed while the rear rim trued rather nicely. The new pads went on without difficulty and all was well, that is until later when I decided to show Elise my clever new storage technique for the bike and somehow managed to PUNCTURE MY FINGERNAIL with the front gear. I would post a picture of the damage but it really doesn't look like much after cleaning it, certainly not enough to indicate how disturbing and painful it is to have a PUNCTURED FINGERNAIL. At least the throbbing has subsided.
Weird deja vu event of the day: while in the bookstore I spied a book which is required reading for one of my future classes, "The Visual Display of Quantitative Information" by Edward R. Tufte. The last time I saw this book was about five years ago when my roommate Bill Press lent it to me because he thought I would find it interesting, which I did.

Behold! It really was quite painful, I assure you.

The Writing Test

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Display of Machismo) — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 20:54:00 +0000

This evening my ability to write a "business memo" will be tested by the USF Masagung School of Business to determine if I need remedial communication studies prior to starting the core courses of the MBA program. I sincerely hope it is graded on normal readability rather than the obtuse standards used by the GMAT graders. A note of explanation: the GMAT is the standardized test required by most accredited MBA programs, and there is a portion of the test designed to test the applicants' writing abilities. The rest of the test seems logical and well thought out, however the "writing test" portion does not test for writing ability in any commonly accepted sense, what it does test for seems to be the applicant's ability to adhere to a rigid organizational structure. I hated taking it and got a mediocre grade. So tonight when they look at my "business memo" I hope they look at it as any normal reader would, i.e. in terms of concision, clarity and memorability (no pun intended).
Elise and I awoke to a cozy 48 degree apartment over the weekend. I mused about how we would one day look back fondly on this experience. Aghast, I realized that I have been adapting to living in a freezing cold house and no longer find it as uncomfortable as I had. While there was little we could do about the temperature, we decided to make the apartment more habitable by getting a hutch/desk for my computer and building a mini-loft for the bed. It's not quite a loft, but it's higher than a normal bedframe, and oh-so-useful for storage.
On a "Weird San Francisco" note: I saw a guy on BART who literally looked like he was in a "shadowy P.I." disguise, complete with bushy mustache, mirrored sunglasses, fedora, and beige trenchcoat with non-descript shoes. I resisted the urge to sidle up to him and whisper "the raven flies at midnight".

A quiet day

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Display of Machismo) — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 21:20:00 +0000

Today is a quiet day. I sent off two holiday thank you cards and one sympathy card for a death in the family. Listening to 90.3 KUSF, the college radio station at my soon-to-be grad school. The weather forecasters are claiming it may snow in the hills later this week. I wish to buy a functioning bicycle for commuting and weekend fun, but our place is so small there is nowhere to safely/conveniently store it. I'm trying to put off playing video games as long as I can so I don't get that "I wasted yet another day of my life playing video games when I could have been _______ing" feeling.
I recently realized (again) that I need to create. How the creation takes place is of lesser importance than I had thought previously, as I get the same fulfillment of the need from writing in a blog as I do from welding a sculpture or playing a new song on the guitar. Of course the actions are different and the "product" varies according to the assorted actions and randomness of the process but the basic itch is still scratched. Spending time not creating feels as exciting as watching grass grow. Travelling creates memories, and fulfills the need so long as the trip is engaging. I hear some psychologists say this need to "create" is a male response to being unable to bear children. Meh.

Today, the Intarweb trembles

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Display of Machismo) — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 00:50:00 +0000

Yes indeed it is a fine day to inflict yet more indignities on the Intarweb. Today I visited the campus of the University of San Francisco to get more info on my imminent matriculation and was reminded of how pleasant and relaxing it is to walk around this city on a brisk winter day. While wandering aimfully through the Panhandle it occurred to me that my erstwhile fiancee had suggested I write a blog. You see, I had been meaning to do it but had just been so darned busy for the last two years. You know how it is. I must say that my IBM T41 laptop is handling the job admirably, especially for an electronic device doused with water followed a few days later by sake. My fellow students, I swear that it is my Laptop that Reeks of the Japanese Booze, and not me.
For the time being walking will be my primary means of transport since my beloved 1996 BMW R1100R motorcycle had the temerity to go and strip its transmission shaft splines and render itself inoperable, and my bicycle is in enough of a state of disrepair that I no longer feel confident in its stopping ability. Now I must ponder some of the Big Questions: do I buy a new bicycle or old motorcycle? How about a fancy new camera that can use those Nikon lenses I've had forever, and then just walk everywhere taking artful and provocative photographs? Maybe some of those super-springy shoes, or rollerblades? Right now I'm leaning toward new bicycle. Then I could ride my new bicycle around and feel cool.